When the Sun Rises
by preciouseternity
Summary: Set long after the events of the series. Elena has spent close to a century and a half with the love of her life, but now it is their time to go. ONESHOT


**A/N: This takes place long after the series ends. Elena chose Damon and they have been together ever since.**

**But after so long, life gets tiring and they realize it's time to go.  
**

**Not really a happy fic, but where I thin it would go if they ended up together in the end. Neither of them want to live forever really, so this is want I would expect to happen after they've lived the lives they want to live.  
**

When the Sun Rises

Even after a hundred and thirty seven years of traveling and living, we still end up here. In Mystic Falls. Where it all began. Where all the pain and struggle and remorse chase each other in endless circles. Where the memories haunt you so vividly it feels like you're watching scenes of a movie. Where the parts of your life that just feel like a bad dream come back and remind you that they were all too real.

You might say we're crazy for coming back, but we both know that there will be no other home but Mystic Falls. It was where we were born. Where we learned to walk and talk and live. Where we learned to love. It's where we met. Where we hated, where we cried. Where we lost our humanity, and where we got it back. Mystic Falls, no matter where else we went, was where we _lived_.

It wasn't even a conscious decision to come back. We sort of just. . . jumped into his car and drove. For miles and miles, with no clue where we were going. And we ended up here. We always would – end up here, I mean. Home is where you belong; life will always lead you back home again.

It had been a long hundred and thirty seven years. Jeremy, Matt, and Bonnie were long gone. They had beautiful families though, and I stayed in touch for a while until the memories of them just became too much. Caroline and Tyler kind of disappeared after the Originals were gone. And Stefan – well, I heard he and Katherine were living somewhere in Bulgaria. The only person I had left was Damon.

I always knew it would turn out like that. Even in my human years, he was the one to stand by my side through everything. He was the constant, the one would never leave me. And he never did. Nearly a century and half later he is still here, loving me the same way he had all that time ago. It wasn't easy – he and I – but it was so worth it. It was worth the pain and the arguments and the disagreements. Being loved by Damon was all I could have asked for in life. It was what reminded me that even though I wasn't human anymore, I was still _alive_.

I roll over onto my side, and let my eyes travel over his body. I had been waking up next to him every morning for so long, and I still never got tired of it. I still loved the feeling of having Damon Salvatore beside me. I still love the feeling of safety and security and love that he brings me.

"You want to know the moment I first realized I was in love with you?" he whispers, not even bothering to open his eyes.

We had never talked about this, I guess because after we made it out of Mystic Falls the past was the last thing we wanted to dwell on. We always kept it on the present and the future. Never the horror story our lives had become in the early twenty first century.

"Yeah," I whisper back, reaching out to trace his jaw with my fingertips.

"Do you remember, the first Miss Mystic Falls dance we attended? You were in this beautiful blue dress. You were the most gorgeous woman I'd seen in all those years. And you looked so innocent and. . . hopeful even though you really had no right to be. I just thought back to everything we'd been through and that was it. I was in love with the girl I could never have."

I smile gently. "But you got me."

He opens his eyes and smiles back at me a little sadly. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not happy we got to spend all this time together. It's selfish, but having you like this is the best thing that could have ever happened to me."

I shake my head. "It's not selfish, Damon. I know if you could have, you would've turned me back. It's not selfish to be happy to have the one you love for as long as you want."

A muscle in his jaw jumps just the slightest bit, his blue eyes clouds with uncertainty. "Are you sure you want to do this? I've had so much more time than you. I can give you more. I will give you more, Elena."

"No, Damon. I'm ready. I'm _tired_. I honestly don't know how you've done it for this long."

"I had my humanity turned off for a long time. That helped."

I roll my eyes and climb on top of him. "One more time," I whisper. "Then I'll be ready."

* * *

Wickery Bridge. It symbolized nothing but pain and suffering for me, but when Damon and I stepped onto together I felt nothing but acceptance. Acceptance for the life that I've been given, for the trials I've gone through. As much as I would like to go back to my human years, I know that I can't. I know that all these things happened for a reason, and that they all lead to the life I am living now. With Damon. And if I'm truly honest with myself, I wouldn't change any of it.

Once we are at the center of the bridge, he turns to me. "Third time's a charm." It's the same thing he said to me when I tried to kill myself all those years ago. Only this time, it would be a charm.

I slid my ring off my finger and placed it on the railing of the bridge. He does the same and places it right next to mine. As I stare at the rings, he comes up behind me and wraps his arms around me.

"Do you want to know when I first realized when I was in love with you?" I ask him, my voice low.

"I didn't realize there was a specific when," he replies, leaning his chin on top of my head.

"There was," I whisper. "I never told anyone this, but when Matt and I went off this bridge, it was you I was thinking of when I died." I paused, biting back tears. "I love you, Damon. I don't regret a second of the time we've had together."

He spins be around and captures my lips with his. I can feel his hands shaking as they cup my face, mine are shaking too. This is our last kiss, our last moment of being together before whatever comes next consumes us. I hope we'll be together. But nothing's guaranteed. So I take this moment to let him know how much he means to me and how I will love him for the rest of eternity.

And then the sun rises.

And our lives turn to ash.

* * *

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